[alota]

I am interested in the Elears and may order them soon.

Though I've generally heard good things about the combo, what do you think of the iBasso DX200 and the Elears? Are they an ideal match? Anyone try them with the balanced modules too?

I'll be posting my Alpha Primes for sale tonight to help cover the cost of the Elears, I'm sad about that, but I think I will like the Elears.

Now i have dx200 with elear. I use tidal hifi.
I like the combo. The se output drives elear without problems. I'm waiting for balanced cable. In the dx200 thread, people says that amp3 module is better.
Soon arrives amp4 module that is like 3 with 4.4 trrs connector

 

[Mr H]

I’ll write a TLDR because I was asking questions on this topic, maybe it’ll help someone maybe not.

so finally I came to a decision. I got the ifi BL (here on the forum) because at the end of the day I use it mostly when I'm in bed, to listen to music or watch movies when it's very late, so the neighbours don’t start shouting and hitting the wall lol (it’s weird that the walls are so thin).

Frequently I share with my wife and plug a Y cable so we can both listen to the same stuff.
Compared to the odac/o2 or the on-board dac it’s clearly a step up in quality.
The elears are easy to drive, people shouldn’t worry about that, I can drive them with my phone just fine. The quality of the sound scales up really well though, I can tell the difference (or I think I do)
First impressions on the ifi micro iDSD black label: I could kill someone with it and won’t break, super solid. Has like 1000 features but if you don’t want to bother and use it as plug/play device is also ok.
It’s nice to have some options. This is how I see them (just my opinion of course, not facts lol)
* The bass boost is really not needed with the elears but I turn it on to watch movies or to listen to gojira lol. Increases the impact of the bass but also adds just a touch of boominess. Overall useful.
* The 3D setting, I find it terrible, unusable.
* Pre out is a nice option, maybe I’ll upgrade just the amp some day and use it as dac. Useful.
* Power mode, useful. I find it sounds fuller when I use it in normal mode compared to eco mode, not sure why .
* Polarity, can’t tell the difference. With speakers, guitar’s mics (like brian may’s guitar) makes sense making them out of phase, sounds different, but reversing the polarity of the whole thing does nothing to the sound from what I can tell. My understanding on this topic is limited. Not useful.
* IEmatch, useful of course.
* Smart power, useful. Maybe not use it as the default battery pack but I can see myself using it when traveling of something

 

[PpapaBearD]

I bought the Elears earlier this week and they arrived yesterday.

Initial impressions, clearly still burning in (listening on them right now as I type this, goes: Tidal --> eqMac2 --> Chord Mojo --> Elear (or Ether Flow C or B&W P9 or B&W P7 or Vmoda Crossfade m-100)):

- Soundstage is solidly wide...not super wide, but instrument/vocal placement is easy to idenfity
- Dynamics/Impact are def there, and def opening up as I use them more...
- Crazy easy to drive, much lower volume setting on my Chord Mojo than I guessed I would need

As good as the Elears are OOTB, My interest is piqued on the Utopias...but will sell some of the others (hopefully ) before pulling the trigger on them .

 

[kehorton]

I bought the Elears earlier this week and they arrived yesterday.

Initial impressions, clearly still burning in (listening on them right now as I type this, goes: Tidal --> eqMac2 --> Chord Mojo --> Elear (or Ether Flow C or B&W P9 or B&W P7 or Vmoda Crossfade m-100)):

- Soundstage is solidly wide...not super wide, but instrument/vocal placement is easy to idenfity
- Dynamics/Impact are def there, and def opening up as I use them more...
- Crazy easy to drive, much lower volume setting on my Chord Mojo than I guessed I would need

As good as the Elears are OOTB, My interest is piqued on the Utopias...but will sell some of the others (hopefully ) before pulling the trigger on them .

@PpapaBearD , how do they compare to your B&W? Are you noticing a dip inn the mids that so many have reported?
Reading feedback here and other sites, it's not clear how evident that dip is (e.g. might be noticeable more with certain genres of music? Seems to be more or less pronounced with how they are driven?

Thanks!

 

[PpapaBearD]

@PpapaBearD , how do they compare to your B&W? Are you noticing a dip inn the mids that so many have reported?
Reading feedback here and other sites, it's not clear how evident that dip is (e.g. might be noticeable more with certain genres of music? Seems to be more or less pronounced with how they are driven?

Thanks!

So keep in mind i've been listening to them for less than 8 hrs so far...but I will say that compared to P7 and/or P9, the Elears are making me bob my head to music I've never done so to...I'm proverbially known as the East German judge (very critical, hard to impress, etc.; hope that reference doesn't offend anyone) but as of right now, the Elears are significantly outperforming the B&Ws...to the extent that I'm thinking about the Utopias even more as folks that have heard both have said they are that much better...which I'm not sure my ears are good enough to hear the difference given how much i'm digging the Elears thus far.

 

[makne]

So keep in mind i've been listening to them for less than 8 hrs so far...but I will say that compared to P7 and/or P9, the Elears are making me bob my head to music I've never done so to...I'm proverbially known as the East German judge (very critical, hard to impress, etc.; hope that reference doesn't offend anyone) but as of right now, the Elears are significantly outperforming the B&Ws...to the extent that I'm thinking about the Utopias even more as folks that have heard both have said they are that much better...which I'm not sure my ears are good enough to hear the difference given how much i'm digging the Elears thus far.

From what I've heard, the Utopia's are more balanced. Tighter, lighter bass, not that upper-mid dip, better imaging, layering etc. I'll try and get a demo session with them the next time I visit my local dealer.

 

[makne]

Been without the Elear for a month now, God I miss them... So much that I've bought a new pair! Should be here next week.
Guess I didn't realize just how much I appreciated the Elears before I didn't have them anymore.

 

[geoffalter11]

From what I've heard, the Utopia's are more balanced. Tighter, lighter bass, not that upper-mid dip, better imaging, layering etc. I'll try and get a demo session with them the next time I visit my local dealer.

The Elears are great. Utopias are something all together different. They are startling at first listen due to the amount of detail and imaging.

 

[ribosradagast]

So keep in mind i've been listening to them for less than 8 hrs so far...but I will say that compared to P7 and/or P9, the Elears are making me bob my head to music I've never done so to...I'm proverbially known as the East German judge (very critical, hard to impress, etc.; hope that reference doesn't offend anyone) but as of right now, the Elears are significantly outperforming the B&Ws...to the extent that I'm thinking about the Utopias even more as folks that have heard both have said they are that much better...which I'm not sure my ears are good enough to hear the difference given how much i'm digging the Elears thus far.

I've owned both the Elear and Utopia, and let me tell you that if you're listening to music that makes you bob your head on the Elear, you won't like the Utopia as much. They're mush more analytical of a sound, more tailored to the "audiophile" "neutral headphone" crowd. The Elear are just straight-up fun

Also can say that in my listening tests with every B&W phone I've tried, I've found them lackluster at best and downright terrible sometimes.

 

[radiocalm]

I've had my elear for a week + and I will add something on the missing upper mids discussion. As I get more hours on them that missing spot in the frequency range seems to be less and less. Whether this is due to burn in or my brain adjusting to their signature I don't know. My guess would be a little of both. I only notice it on some songs, not frequently. This being said I am incredibly happy with them. They just work for me, I'm a sucker for those punchy dynamics and that physical presence and they do that in spades. I love them and they are my favorite headphone that I currently own. And again with the sale that's going on right now I don't think you can beat them for the money.

 

[PpapaBearD]

I've owned both the Elear and Utopia, and let me tell you that if you're listening to music that makes you bob your head on the Elear, you won't like the Utopia as much. They're mush more analytical of a sound, more tailored to the "audiophile" "neutral headphone" crowd. The Elear are just straight-up fun

Also can say that in my listening tests with every B&W phone I've tried, I've found them lackluster at best and downright terrible sometimes.

I'm OK with more analytical...questions:

1. Do the Utopias have near or as much "punch" as the Elear and what were you powering them with?
2. What did you replace the Utopias with?

 

[nvfan]

The Elear has 2.5-3db bass rise from 30-200Hz that the Utopia does not. You can replicate the punchiness simply by EQ.

 

[liopleus]

Does anyone know where this hard-shell carrying case can be bought?
https://www.focal.com/en/headphones-0/headphones/cables-and-accessories/hard-shell-carrying-case

I want to buy one for my Elears but can't find it anywhere except Focal's official site. Although Focal might charge a fortune for it...

 

[nvfan]

Well if Utopia earpads are $250, then an official carrying case will probably be $400...

 

[makne]

I'm OK with more analytical...questions:

1. Do the Utopias have near or as much "punch" as the Elear and what were you powering them with?
2. What did you replace the Utopias with?

From what I've heard, the Utopia carries the same extreme dynamic capabilities of the Elear, but does not have the same bass slam which is part of why the Elear is so engaging.